Campus Safety at ASU

Albany State University Police Department

The powers of authority for The ASU Police Department are assigned from the Georgia Code Annotated, section: Georgia O.C.G.A. 20-3-72. The authority of ASU Police and other security personnel to make arrests on and within 500 yards of any property owned or controlled by the Board of Regents within the State of Georgia. (Acts 1968.p.370; 1974, p.611). The ASU Police officers are empowered to make ethical and sound police decisions on both Albany State University East and West campus as well as the Cordele campus. The police department can use other public safety agencies under current MOU’S (Memorandums of Understanding) to ensure best safety practices are conducted.

The ASU Police Department is staffed with police officers, security officers, and dispatchers every day of the week, 24 hours a day. We offer many services to guarantee safety and security to those on campus as well as collaborate with many divisions to participate and offer programs and training such as New Student Orientation, Self Defense, Alert training, and Women Empowerment Sessions. Ongoing prevention and awareness campaigns are also offered throughout the year.

In addition, the department is associated with several professional associations: the American Jail Association, Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, Albany/Dougherty Crime Stoppers, HBCU Chiefs’ Association, Police Executive Research Firm, International Chiefs’ Association, Georgia Chiefs’ Association, and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

Officer Training

The officers of the ASU Police Department come with varied backgrounds, in not only law enforcement, but military experience as well. The majority of the departmental personnel are college graduates holding academic degrees in areas of Management, Criminal Justice, Sociology, and Education, or are currently pursuing an education at Albany State University.

All members of the ASU Police Department attend specialized training beyond the state-mandated 20-hour requirement for their continued certification. These areas of training include but are not limited to campus law enforcement training, community-oriented policing, criminal investigation, crime prevention, bicycle patrol, first aid and C.P.R, and cultural diversity. The police staff also receive specialized training such as radar, active shooter, drug testing, post instructor, FEMA, GEMA, NIMS certification, CIT certifications, and Crime prevention, etc.

The departmental standard is for every officer to obtain over 80 hours of training per year that varies between in-house and other outside training sources.

Albany State University Police Officers are commissioned under the scope of Georgia Law and Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (P.O.S.T.), and have the same authority as municipal police officers in Georgia. They are authorized to carry firearms and empowered to make arrests. All criminal incidents on Albany State University campuses are investigated by the Albany State University Police. All crimes that occur on either campus or institution property shall be reported to ASU Police Department.

As stated in the mission statement “The Albany State University Police Department will maintain the highest standards of professional ethics and integrity with a spirit of excellence. We are committed to the philosophy of involving the entire campus community in policing. We will build partnerships and coalitions with staff, faculty and students to identify and recommend solutions to the problems with the goal of improving the quality of life on campus. Our commitment is to provide professional service and employ time-tested police methods and promising innovative approaches to protect better our faculty, staff, students, and visitors.”

Safety on Campus

Albany State University Police Department is ranked one of the safest schools in the University System of Georgia with 800+ cameras in total between the East and West campuses. The Department has several divisions to include: Patrol, Investigations which includes Sexual Assault and Cyber Security, Emergency Management, Clery, Training, Internal Affairs, and Parking Services. The Patrol Division performs a wide array of duties and services. They investigate all complaints of on-campus criminal activity. Also, the patrol and security officers are responsible for ensuring pedestrian safety, securing buildings, motorist assistance, security escorts, the general preventive patrol of buildings, parking lots, residence halls, and other campus areas. In addition to traditional vehicular patrol, alternative methods of patrol such as foot, ATV, and bicycle patrol are employed. The Sexual Assault Division consists of one primary investigator and two secondary investigators. Additionally, all Sergeants are required to take the entry level sexual assault investigation course.

Our Emergency Management Division is responsible for developing emergency programs and serves as a key component in planning, coordination of operations, and mitigation efforts. We coordinate with local and state government agencies during emergencies to ensure our students and faculty are safe. We utilize the Blackboard Connect 5 notification system to communicate extreme weather alerts, emergency notifications, and other important information via text, email, and a phone call to our faculty, staff, and students in a timely manner. In some cases, the ASU website will also be used as a resource to disseminate information.

Our Clery Division develops the University’s Clery compliance policies and procedures, which updates, publishes, and distributes the Annual Safety and Fire Report by October 1st of every year. The Annual Crime Statistics are also submitted to the U.S. Department of Education at the end of the year, as well as updated on the University website monthly. Crime and disciplinary referral stats are collected from Student Affairs, the Title IX Coordinator and local law enforcement to help provide a safer campus.

Our Parking Service personnel help to safeguard students, faculty, and staff by being certain that vehicles are not obstructing fire lanes, blocking prohibited zones, or handicapped parking spaces. Any vehicle parked in any space marked reserved or in any of the reserved parking lots on ASU campus must display a reserved parking permit to ensure that vehicles are legally parked. Vehicles which are illegally parked are cited and can be impounded. We take these precautions to help deter criminal activity and maintain awareness of all visitors from our local community.